Traditional Video Still Almost 100 Times More Popular Than Online Video

According to the recent Magna Online Video Forecast, the US market for online video will grow by 32% this year, rising from $531 million in 2008 to $699 million in 2009. Though these figures represent downward revisions from a previous forecast, these gains, says Magna, will likely outpace growth rates for most other emerging media platforms. The report says that as marketing budgets are reduced across industries, advertisers look to reach their consumers in a more targeted and cost-effective manner. In recent periods, the expanding availability of premium network and cable TV programming combined with increasing broadband penetration now covering 60% of US homes by Magna estimates, collectively led to a 24% increase in time with professionally produced online video during 2008, following a 50% rise during 2007, according to Accustream. Few large advertisers can achieve broad reaching objectives solely by using an online video-only campaign if there are any content preferences involved, concludes the report. As a point of reference, during 2008 490 billion person-hours of traditional television were consumed according to Nielsen. This equates to 244 times more consumption of professional content video than of online video. Even assuming last year's growth rate continues through 2012, traditional TV would still account for 98 times more consumption.